Kentucky Court Designated Workers ("CDWs") administer diversion programs to juveniles in trouble and send cases on to court.

 

When a juvenile gets into trouble with the law it can fall into two categories, status offenses or public offenses.  Status offenses are unique to juveniles and can include skipping school, being beyond control of parent or school, and running away from home.  Public offenses include all of the crimes that can be charged to anyone regardless of age for example possession of drugs, theft, and murder.

 

When a juvenile is to be charged with either of these types of crimes, the CDW is contacted.  That person takes the information and opens a case on the juvenile.  If the juvenile needs to be detained, the CDW will call the judge and request that the judge order the juvenile be sent to detention.  Or the CDW may simply request that the juvenile and parent appear at the CDW office and send the juvenile home.

 

The CDW can then either keep the juvenile's case in her office or send it for formal adjudication through court.  If the CDW keeps the juvenile file, she will place that juvenile in a six month diversion program.

 

 At the completion of the six month diversion, if the juvenile completes all assigned tasks to the satisfaction of the CDW, the case will be closed and the juvenile will not have to appear in formal court.  If the juvneile does not complete, that juvenile will be referred to court and will go before the judge for formal proceedings.